


The Subtle Art Of Balloon Popping

by vexbatch



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Background Relationships, Balloon Popping, Carnival, Clint Barton & Kate Bishop Friendship, Cute, Fluffy, Friendship, Games, Gen, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Clint Barton - Freeform, Minor Kate Bishop/America Chavez, aaaaaaaaand, but it's the most important, it's not the only ship here, it's really just a bunch of fluff, of both, the worst of all carnival rides, the zipper, there's also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vexbatch/pseuds/vexbatch
Summary: Clint is visiting his favorite Hawkeye sibling in California after a rough mission, and a carnival happened to be set up on the same weekend. Kate and Clint go for some quality bonding time, and place a little bet.Clint Barton Birthday Bash Bingo, Square 8: Balloons
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	The Subtle Art Of Balloon Popping

**Author's Note:**

> *Note: a ride called The Zipper is mentioned in this fic. If you’re not sure what it is, you can search ‘zipper carnival ride’ for an image, but basically it’s a giant arm with cages all along the outside. Both the arm and the individual cages rotate, and I was terrified of it as a kid.

“No, come on Katie-Kate, you’re just as much of an archer as I am!” Clint grinned as Kate turned back around, navigating through the crowd to close the gap between them in record time before shoving a finger in his face.

“First of all,” she hissed, “ _ I’m _ the better shot and we both know it. And  _ second of all _ , that stupid game is rigged.”

Clint just added more teeth to his smile. “If you think you’re the better shot, then why don’t you prove it?”

She glared at him for a moment more, and Clint wondered if she would actually take his bait. They both knew Kate was the better archer; it was one of the many reasons Clint referred to her as “the better Hawkeye.” He was willing to bet, however, that she had never learned the precise trick of this game. 

It was a simple one, duplicated at carnivals across the country; you blow up a bunch of regular balloons, then give the customer a handful of darts and ask them to pop as many balloons as they could. The problem wasn’t that the darts weren’t sharp enough or that the balloons were special at all; it was just a physics problem. Coming straight on, the darts simply didn’t have enough power to pop through the balloon, but if you  _ arced _ them and let gravity do half the work for you, you could pop every single one.

Clint was willing to bet Kate had never learned that trick, but growing up in the circus had taught Clint some cool tricks that he liked to regularly exploit, when the opportunities presented themselves. 

Kate’s face was screwed up, frustrated and trying to figure out his game, but she eventually ground out, “what do I get if I win?”

Letting out a groan, Clint tilted his head back to partially hide his gratified smile. Dropping his head back down, he pretended to think about it. “How about...I volunteer for the dunk tank, and you can dunk me as many times as you want for, oh say, an hour?”

She let out a positively feral grin at that, sticking her hand out and saying “deal” before he’d shaken on it. Now it was Clint’s turn to grin.

“And if  _ I _ win,” to which Kate let out a little “shit” before Clint continued, a gleam in his eye. “If  _ I _ win, then you have to go on the Zipper with me as many times as  _ I _ want in an hour.” 

It was Kate’s turn to roll her head back and groan, lamenting to the sky, “why is he like this? Why do I put up with this?!”

“Because you love me,” Clint answered with a smirk. “And you love my dog!”

“ _ Our _ dog,” she bit back, but Kate was smiling when she looked back down, grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the booth. “Come on, ‘faster we do this, the faster I can get to dunking you.”

Clint let out a laugh, but followed obediently. He paid for their game; he figured he owed it to Kate considering how he was about to completely decimate her. When he gallantly handed over her darts, she just stuck her tongue out at him as she swiped them.

“Okay, but we shoot  _ together _ ,” she instructed, giving him her best suspicious glare. “I don’t want you  _ messing  _ with me while I’m trying to shoot.”

Clint clutched his chest, mock offended. “Me? Tamper with a fair wager? Do you really think so little of me, Katie-Kate?”

Kate harrumphed, turning back to the game. “I think you’ve been learning from Thing 1 and Thing 2 about cheating.”

“Why, whomever could you mean?” Clint batted his eyelashes at her, and was rewarded with an eye roll when Kate glanced back at him.

“Your  _ boyfriends _ , Captain Hunk and the Winter Hunkening. I’ve heard just how dirty they play at cards, and given our hand of Go Fish with America last night, I’m pretty sure you’d be just as bad here.  _ Especially _ with the Zipper on the line.”

Clint laughed, turning his attention to the balloons tacked up in front of them. “It’s not my fault your girlfriend isn’t any good at cards!”

“It was Go Fish!!” 

They were both laughing as they launched their first darts. Clint actually managed to miss, hitting just above the staple holding the balloon up, where Kate’s bounced off completely. “Aww, dart, no,” Clint whined in unison with Kate’s “dammit.”

A focus fell over both of them, concentration palpable as they lined up again. This time Clint’s balloon popped, and he let out a whoop that covered Kate’s “aww” as her dart slid off once more.

Clint could feel Kate’s eyes boring holes into the side of his head, but he just grinned and lifted his last dart to shoot. 

_ Breath in. _

_ Hold. _

_ Breath out. _

_ Shoot. _

The loud crack of another balloon popping sounded, just as Kate’s third dart slid uselessly to the ground. She turned on him. “How?!?! How could you possibly do that?!?! I’m a better shot than you, we both know it.”

Clint just flashed her a grin, before turning back to the carnie running their booth. “Um, yeah, could I have the giraffe please? N-no,  _ that _ one, yeah, the giant purple one.”

“Alllllright,” the man unhooked Clint’s prize, turning to hand it over. Clint grabbed it and squeezed it to his chest, beaming down at a very grumpy Kate. 

“Aaaaand we’ve got the consolation prize for the little lady.” Kate just glared at the carnie as he handed over a tiny frog that squished. She snatched it from him, then turned back to Clint who had already taken a couple big steps backwards, still grinning around his massive new plushie.

“Rematch,” Kate uttered, shaking the frog in his direction, legs flopping around. “I demand a rematch! You cheated somehow, I don’t know how, but  _ somehow _ .”

“Nnnnope,” Clint replied, popping the ‘p’. “Deal was, I beat you at pop-the-balloon, we go on the Zipper. Come on! My hour’s already started!”

Kate let out another groan, this one louder than the last. “Fine. Fine! Fine, Hawkeye, but you better put that giant fucking giraffe in the truck first because I am  _ not _ coming back to this stupid game to get you a new one when I hurl all over it.”

Clint gasped, clutching the giraffe even tighter. “How dare you threaten Rupert like that! He deserves better!”

“That’s what  _ you _ deserve for making me go on that stupid Zipper.” Kate crossed her arms, head tilting. “Time’s ticking, Hawkeye.”

He grinned at her scowl. “Thanks, Hawkeye.” 

Kate rolled her eyes as he took off for the truck. Coming to California had been such a great idea. The Avengers were amazing, but there was nothing quite like Hawkeye on Hawkeye time to chase the demons away for a little longer.


End file.
